C (Fair) - In the trade-off between performance and risk, the stock has a track record which is about average. It is neither significantly better nor significantly worse than most other stocks. With some funds in this category, the total return may be better than average, but this can be misleading since the higher return was achieved with higher than average risk. With other funds, the risk may be lower than average, but the returns are also lower. In short, based on recent history, there is no particular advantage to investing in this fund.
Buy in thirds: Like dollar-cost averaging, “buying in thirds” helps you avoid the morale-crushing experience of bumpy results right out of the gate. Divide the amount you want to invest by three and then, as the name implies, pick three separate points to buy shares. These can be at regular intervals (e.g., monthly or quarterly) or based on performance or company events. For example, you might buy shares before a product is released and put the next third of your money into play if it’s a hit — or divert the remaining money elsewhere if it’s not.

Have a complete 360-degree view of what you’re buying before you buy it. Fundamentally, take a look at what’s under the hood of the company with regard to earnings ratios. Technically, understand what’s happening in the short and long term with support and resistance. Know your exit strategy and your money management strategy, including stop losses.

ECN/Level 2 quotes: ECNs, or electronic communication networks, are computer-based systems that display the best available bid and ask quotes from multiple market participants and then automatically match and execute orders. Level 2 is a subscription-based service that provides real-time access to the Nasdaq order book composed of price quotes from market makers registering every Nasdaq-listed and OTC Bulletin Board security. Together, they can give you a sense of orders being executed in real time.

News events and earnings reports can change the perceived value of a company. Because the stock market functions as an auction, prices sometimes need to adapt for a trade to occur. When there are more sellers than buyers, the price will go down. Alternately, a stock that has more who want to buy than sell will experience a price increase. Buyers and sellers can be individuals, corporations, asset management companies, or others. Price fluctuations can be dramatic in just one day.

Understand that for both beginning investors and seasoned stock market pros, it's impossible to always buy and sell the best stocks at exactly the right time. But also understand that you don't have to be right every time to make money. You just need to learn some basic rules for how to identify the best stocks to watch, the ideal time to buy them, and when to sell stocks to lock in your profits or quickly cut any losses.
Whilst some day traders are tuned in every day from 09:30 to 16:30 EST (for the U.S stock market), many trade for just a 2-3 hour window instead. As a beginner especially this will prevent you making careless mistakes as your brain drops down a couple of gears when your concentration wanes. The hours you’ll want to focus your attention on are as follows:
A person who feels negative about the market is called a “bear,” while their positive counterpart is called a “bull.” During market hours, the constant battle between the bulls and the bears is reflected in the constantly changing price of securities. These short-term movements are driven by rumors, speculations, and hopes – emotions – rather than logic and a systematic analysis of the company’s assets, management, and prospects.
Berkshire Hathaway -- Berkshire Hathaway is a conglomerate with more than 60 wholly owned businesses, including household names such as Geico, Duracell, Dairy Queen, and many more. The company also has a massive $230 billion stock portfolio, much of which was hand-selected by Warren Buffett, arguably the most successful investor of all time. Berkshire specifically targets businesses and stocks with durable competitive advantages and has a fantastic 55-year track record of executing on its vision of using its businesses to generate capital to reinvest in other businesses and stocks.
A stock's market capitalization (cap) is its true value, the sum of the total shares multiplied by price. It has more meaning than the share price because it allows you to evaluate a company in the context of others of the same size in its industry. You can use a market cap as a filter to screen for companies to balance your portfolio. A small-cap company with stock capitalization of $250 million to $2 billion shouldn't be compared to a large cap, which ranges from $10 billion to $100 billion. Market capitalization influences your investment returns.
Some scammers will buy up a ton of some near-bankrupt, almost lifeless penny stock, then use lies and exaggerations to push the share price much higher. They might say the company is about to get some huge business deal with Google or their neighbor just struck gold in their similar mine, or they are going to land a major FDA clearance. That typically helps increase the value of the penny stock, which creates a profit for the promoter or scam artist. As the shares increase in value, they sell their holdings. These shares usually collapse back down to near-worthless status once the promoter has taken their profits and moved on.
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